ADHD can affect attention, impulse control, organisation, follow-through and everyday self-management across childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Someone may focus deeply on an activity they enjoy, yet struggle to begin or persist with a less preferred task.
At Tesserae, we support children, teens and adults by looking at where attention, follow-through or self-management are breaking down in everyday life, and which practical skills would make the biggest difference.
ADHD is not simply about being unable to focus. Difficulties often show up in how consistently someone can start, sustain, shift or manage their behaviour across different situations.
This inconsistency is one of the most confusing parts of ADHD for families, teachers and the person themselves. A skill may be present, but accessing it reliably can depend heavily on context.
No. Attention is only one part of the picture. ADHD can also affect how someone organises behaviour towards a goal and manages themselves over time.
The goals depend on the person and the situations where ADHD is having the greatest everyday impact.
We are usually looking for practical changes that make it easier to start, stay with, complete and manage everyday responsibilities with less external prompting.
There is overlap, because ADHD can affect learning, behaviour and emotional regulation at the same time. The difference is in the main question we are trying to answer.
On this page, the focus is specifically on how ADHD may be affecting attention, task initiation, follow-through, impulse control and self-management, and how those skills can become more reliable across settings.
These are not mutually exclusive. Someone with ADHD may need support across more than one area, and we use the initial consultation to work out which goals should take priority.
Tesserae’s Behaviour Support is grounded in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). For someone with ADHD, ABA gives us a structured way to look at when a difficulty happens, what is making the task easier or harder, and what support is currently keeping the person on track.
From there, we can teach practical skills and redesign parts of the environment so the person does not have to rely on constant adult prompting. This might include breaking tasks into clearer steps, building routines, teaching how to ask for help, using visual or external cues, practising waiting or checking before acting, and gradually shifting towards self-monitoring.
For families searching for ABA therapy for ADHD, the important distinction is that ABA does not remove ADHD or change the diagnosis. It is used to target specific behaviours and functional skills that are affecting everyday participation, and to measure whether those changes are actually becoming more independent over time.
ADHD support may involve more than one discipline, particularly when diagnosis, medication, academic difficulties or other developmental and mental health needs are part of the picture.
With consent, we can collaborate with other professionals involved in the person’s care or support. If another discipline is better suited to a particular concern, we will say so.
A child may initially need frequent adult reminders. A teen may rely on parents or teachers to organise tasks. An adult may use external systems to manage work, study or daily responsibilities. The aim is not to remove every support, but to make support more useful, sustainable and increasingly self-directed.
We start by understanding what you are experiencing, or what you are noticing in your child or family member, and whether Behaviour Support is likely to be useful for the ADHD-related difficulties you are seeing.
Tell us what you are experiencing, or what you are noticing in your child or family member. We will help you decide whether an Initial Screening & Consultation would be useful.
We spend direct time with the person receiving support and, where relevant, speak with parents or caregivers to understand strengths, current difficulties and everyday priorities. Afterwards, we discuss our observations and recommended next steps.
If ongoing support is appropriate, we build around a small number of meaningful goals such as follow-through, self-management or greater independence, and choose the setting that best fits the person’s needs.
We review progress, help strategies work across people and environments, and reduce therapist involvement as independence grows.
No. Support can be based on the difficulties someone is experiencing whether or not there has been a formal diagnosis. Diagnosis and intervention can also happen in parallel where appropriate.
No. Tesserae provides behavioural screening and intervention, not formal ADHD diagnosis. If diagnostic assessment would be useful, we can recommend that you speak with an appropriately qualified professional.
Yes, for specific behavioural and functional goals. ABA can be used to understand patterns, teach practical strategies and build more independent follow-through. It does not remove ADHD or change the diagnosis.
No. Medication decisions should be discussed with an appropriately qualified medical professional. Behaviour Support can work alongside medical treatment by building practical skills, routines and self-management strategies.
If the main difficulty is literacy, writing, maths or another academic skill, Educational Therapy may be more appropriate. Behaviour Support may still be useful where attention, task initiation, persistence or follow-through are getting in the way of learning.
Where useful, yes. Support can extend into school, home, work or other everyday settings where the relevant skills need to function. School-based support for children or teens requires parental consent and the school’s agreement.
There is no single amount that applies to everyone. Intensity should depend on the goals, current skills and how much support is needed for those skills to become useful and increasingly independent.
Not sure what kind of support would help?
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